Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Thursday 20 November 2008
20 November 2008
With uncanny echoes of Russell Slade's period in charge at Blundell Park, a foreign trialist has been shown the door by GTFC after the club failed to get international clearance for him to play in a reserve game. The arrival earlier this week of Malaga left-back Carlos Delgado Rodriguez brought a little excitement to the hearts of everyone connected with the club except Tom Newey, but filling in a form to get permission for him to turn out against Sheffield Big Wednesday second XI at Stocksbridge Park Steels on Tuesday afternoon proved a bridge too far for Town's crack backroom team of paperclip counters, and the player has been packed off back to south-western Europe with only the opposite of a straw donkey to show for his weird sojourn in North East Lincolnshire. French AM/F L Mickaël Buscher will return to Cleethorpes on Monday and continue his bid to win a contract with the Mariners, but fans with fresh memories of the Slade regime are already braced for an influx of six-foot-seven centre-backs, former Sheffield United reserves and irate half-hour phone calls to Cod Almighty writers.
Speaking of which, Mike (no surname given) has emailed the Diary to point out: "I'm pretty sure that Russell Slade's 'The Frenchman' remark was aimed at the Frenchman Thomas Pinault rather than JPK." He certainly referred to Pinault in that way during the extraordinary buck-passing outburst that followed the 2-2 draw at Notts County in 2005, Mike, but I'm fairly certain he used the same term to signify Kalala at some point too. I could be wrong, but I don't really feel like trawling the archives now because I've just remembered that horrible "I could get any female off the street" part from the Meadow Lane inquiry. Town's current manager may not have contributed positively to the women's rights movement but at that moment Slade would have made Mike Newell look like Germaine Greer.
If you've ever thought Town fans can be unduly harsh from time to time, take a moment today to gauge the reaction of Bournemouth supporters to their new signing Matt Tubbs. The acquisition by the league's second-bottom side of a player they have never seen has got the Cherries faithful spluttering furiously that the end of their club is nigh. Do keep a little perspective, people!
Lastly today, Keith Collins has emailed the Diary to say: "I was working down in Swansea recently and got talking to some Swans fans about our plight. It seems they were in a similar position a few seasons ago and the possibility of them falling from the Football League into the Conference. The big danger was that once in the Conference they would not be let back into the Football League because their ground wouldn't meet the current safety standards. They moved to a new ground for that reason. I am sure, if it's true, we would have a similar problem because of the Main Stand (incidentally the oldest stand in the Football League) being constructed of wood. I have not the time to check this out but maybe someone already knows the answer." Oh my God - the end of our club is nigh! Just kidding, KC - but Swansea seem to be doing just fine now, and while many football supporters worry about relegation, surely it takes a true Grimbarian to worry about permanent relegation?